This guy is a Biology major.
He graduated with a Masters degree.
You think he would give up Biology to get on a camera
that he's never been before?
For somebody who don't have no values?
The amount of knowledge
that you have in the room.
Not only from ET and CJ,
but also from his team
and the people that are sitting amongst you
is great and you can benefit from all of it.
You don't understand why you can't get to the next level.
Because you don't have a value system.
And people know you're weak,
and you don't stand for nothing.
And that's why they don't want to associate with you.
He told the guy
he said when you want to succeed
as bad as you want to breathe
then you'll be sucessful.
WHAT UP! WHAT UP! WHAT UP!
It's your boy ET!
Look guys, super excited.
Most of you saw on social media just here recently.
I had the engagement of the week,
the month,
the year,
maybe my life, right.
The Dropout Prevention Conference guys.
Look it was so surreal.
Like I....
Aight, aight. So let me sum it up for you in 3 quick words.
Right?
Redemption
Restore
and Return.
Right, I'm a say it again.
Redemption
Restore
and Return.
Listen to me.
I sat in the room,
with a bunch of heroes!
I had the opportunity
to sit in the room with over 300 heroes.
Right and what do you mean by that?
Redemption.
Right, I was redeemed.
Through a program
like the National Dropout Prevention Conference
I was saved guys.
Hi, we are here with Eric Thomas,
and it's a distinct pleasure to be with you Eric.
Amen.Thank you.
Your story is so inspirational,
and I appreciate what you do.
And Eric is here at the National Dropout Prevention Conference
and it's interesting because
you actually dropped out.
Absolutely!
I'm a High Scool Dropout .
I'm proud to say that there are systems in place
for those of us
who don't make the greatest decisions
on the first go-around.
There are people and programs that help us
you know to get a second shot.
And so I'm greateful for
the National Dropout Prevention Program
because you guys did that for me.
You gave me a second chance
and that turned into
an equivalent High School Diploma
and eventually allowed me to go to college.
So thank you guys.
I was a year away from graduating.
Took me 12 years to get a 4 year degree.
I was a year away from graduating,
and I had the fear of success.
Know some of ya might not know nothing about that
but I had the fear of success.
I had the fear of crossing over.
And I'll never forget
my Theologian teacher
came to me and said to me,
"You gotta finish school."
And I said "I gotta finish school for what?"
I was back to that again.
I'm from Detroit.
I can go back and get a job with Ford.
I can go back and get a job at GM,
or Chrysler.
Man I'm outta here!
And he said "You going to be just like your Daddy."
He made the connection.
I said "What? You don't even know my Daddy."
He said "And you don't either."
He said "But what I can tell you is
he never finished anything.
He never committed to anything.
Your grandfather didn't finish nothing.
Your father didn't finish nothing.
And you my friend,
are on the path of finishing nothing.
And you're going to be to your son
what your father was to you."
I know that people watching this
might be thinking , alright.
What can I do to help?
But their were people along your way
Absolutely!
who played important roles
"Abosolutely" in your life.
Yeah the first one was a Pastor.
Who wasnt't just a Pastor or a Preacher,
but he was a mentor.
He was a role model.
And he said to me
Eric,
you don't have to start strong
but you do have to finish strong.
He explained to me that
your teenage years only last for so long,
but you'll be an adult for the rest of your life.
So you don't have to allow the
terrible decisions you made
as a teenager to haunt you
for the rest of your life.
I was allowed with my GED
do you understand that the GED
was the gateway to my PHD.
I was restored!
Are you hearing me? I was restored!
I was reinstated!
Like I had the opportunity.
Like the very thing I gave up on.
Like the very thing I quit. Right?
The very thing I abandoned.
Through these type of programs guys
I was restored.
And everyday I walked to Michigan State,
or drove to Michigan State in the cold,
and I didn't feel like going to class
I kept saying to myself
My Daddy wasn't in my life.
He's Daddy wasn't in his life.
And this education is going
to allow me to equalize.
It's going to allow me to
bring some sense of success to my family.
I told you, my man right there,
we right there on the court.
Michigan State University
yep, thats the practice court.
Yep me and my boy.
Michigan State University
that's my boy right there.
Yep my first born, Jalin.
That's my why!
I gotta why
I gotta pay for my son to go to school.
I gotta pay for my daughter to go to school.
It's just something happens
when you have a why.
And most of our babies are coming to class for Math,
English and Science,
and it just ain't enough.
You gotta tap into thier why.
Your grandma still working I ask?
Most of them raised thier hands
Yeah my grandma still working.
I said "Why your grandma still working?"
Because my father's in prison
and my mom didn't finished school,
and she don't have a real job.
So my grandma has to take care of us.
I'm like wow!
It's funny that in other cultures
I don't know if in the Jewish community,
their grandma is going to work
just to pay for them be able to eat.
That's kind of ....
Look, do me a favor.
How long you want your grandma to do this?
Cause you know she loves you so much
that even if you're 25, and you can't take care of yourself,
your grandma is still going to be doing this.
So lets do this,
forget school for money.
Go to school for grandma.
**Clapping**
Listen to me.
You gotta tap into their why.
They might not come to school to graduate.
They might not come to school for grades,
but they love somebody.
And you make them think about that somebody
every single day.
Write it down.
Put their grandma's pictures like
thier love ones should be on the wall.
When they come to your classroom
Take some of that stuff you got
down that means nothing to noboby.
It's just cute stuff teachers do.
And put all thier momma,
grandmama, uncle,
everybody's face up there.
And make them see thier grandma when they come everyday!
Make them look at their grandma.
So look,
I was a Senior in High School, and uh
working 3 jobs
helping my parents and helping myself.
I wanted to go to college.
I was working alot and uh
I got to the point where it was just so difficult for me
to keep the momentum going.
and uh
I almost gave up and
and so then I went to YouTube
finding some inspiration
that's when I wounded up a video of ET.
The Secrets To Sucess.
Because I was so passionate about you know growth.
And then that's when I watched the video
You really inspired me a lot.
Because
I was having a hard time.
I was failing my 2 classes.
Chemistry,
and Algebra 2
I was failing my classes.
I'll put the video
and I'll put my earphones on
and I'll listen to the video
as I walked to school.
It's like a 15 minutes walk
in the winter.
He said when you want to succeed
as bad as you want to breathe
then you'll be successful
The video spoke to me.
Spoke to my heart.
And I watched it for a month, every single day.
And I graduated from High School.
And not only that it really
I really kept watching his videos,
his motivational speeches.
You really inspired me.
And I went to college.
Graduated from college.
And now I'm 22 years old.
I'm a first year MBA student.
Started my graduate school,
and I still watch ET every single Monday
with the Thank God It's Monday videos.
Listen to me, to do a Keynote
at the National Dropout Prevention Conference
addressing teachers,
addressing principles,
addressing administrator.
Listen guys, return!
Your boy ET returned!
I came back.
So grateful for you for those who organized this program.
You know I can go on for days
because it's not a speech, it's my life.
And hope I have the opportunity to come to your school
or school district
and do teacher training.
And we can spend more time talking about
some of the practical tools
for those who don't follow me.
I'm not interested in you following me.
But school districts have used not only the videos,
but they've used our books,
and more specifically, our workbook curriculum.
And I'm just being honest.
They've gone from scores of 30 in Math
to 70s.
From 40s in English to 80s,
and turned thier entire school district around.
And you know the videos are absolutely free.
I think the book is 19 dollars.
So the investment is worth it.
So please use the resources.
They're there for you.
Again thank you for what you do.
Keep doing what you're doing.
And please make the rest of your life,
the best of your life. Thank you.
**Clapping**
I was just supa dupa excited guys.
Supa dupa excited about this conference.
Supa dupa excited about what it meant.
And I look foward to
not just being an event.
But I look forward to connecting with this organization,
and helping kids across the country.
Not only to not drop out
but more importantly for those who have dropped out
I'm looking to help them to get restored,
to get redeemed,
and returned back to thier glory.
The gallup poll people, they're always asking
are you optimistic about the future?
And right now only 47% of people
say they are optimistic about the future.
How about you?
What is your message to them about
being optimistic?
You know I say...
don't except the world that's been given to you
create your own.
You know, so when you go from being homeless,
a High School dropout,
eating out of trash cans,
to where I am today.
It's here!
But you gotta take your focus off of what's not happening,
and put your focus on what can happen.
I always say where you energy
where your focus goes, your energy flows.
So if you're focusing on the negative,
that's what you're going to get.
That's what you're going to see.
But when you start saying,
"I can make it happen."
I'm hearing "I'm here!"
Like I'm in Detroit
Doing a Nat..
like Eric Thomas, a High School dropout
is addressing
those individuals who are educators, who are administrators
So anything is possible, and I would just say
Believe!
The Power of Belief!
The Power of Hope!
It's magical.
And if we just believe,
and then move on our belief,
we can create anything.